You are on page 1of 6

Technical Report Submitted for Problem Based Learning (KA21603

Geotechnical Engineering 1), Sem. II, Session 2016/2017

SOIL INVESTIGATION REPORT OF BORROW PITS FOR THE PROPOSED


CRUISE TERMINAL IN KOTA KINABALU, SABAH

Chan Vui Zen1

ABSTRACT: The local developer, Interland Properties Sdn. Bhd. had been appointed by the Malaysias Sabah-state
government to construct a cruise terminal at the seaside area nearby Kota Kinabalu City Mosque located at the Likas
Bay. In order to have a new land reclamation within the controlled budget, the borrow pit location had to be within 30
km from the proposed cruise terminal. Our geotechnical firm was elected to conduct tests and identify the backfilling
materials on two selected borrow pit locations which are located at Salut and Gayang. Several soil tests such as sieve
analysis, standard Proctor compaction test, Atterberg limit test, specific gravity test and pH test were conducted to
determine the suitability of the borrow pits for the proposed terminal. After performing the professional soil test, we
found out that Soil B with maximum dry density of 1760 kg/m3 which is larger than the requirement of 1250 kg/m 3, the
specific gravity is 2.48, the pH value is 4.95 lies within 4.0 8.5, and the tolerable optimum water content which is
17% even though is out of range of 5 13%.

Keywords: Cruise Terminal, Soil Investigation, Soil Classification, Salut, Gayang.

INTRODUCTION grained soil, marginal materials, shale and etc.


Therefore, both Salut and Gayang areas are chosen as the
borrow pit locations in which their distance are within 30
km from the proposed site of cruise terminal that at the
same time fully satisfied the requirement.
Land is a basic need, and it is important to all
economic activities such as housing, commercial,
industry, tourism, agriculture and infrastructure. It is a
finite resource in the current globalization era when
development is taken place almost everywhere. Thus,
land resources become more limited (Nadzir, N. M.,
Figure 1 Proposed site of cruise terminal Ibrahim, M., & Mansor, M., 2014). Coastal land
reclamation by means of expanding the boundary and
Today, the coastal areas of the world amounting to widening the territory provides good opportunities to the
nearly 10% of the total worlds land area, supports nearly small state or countries that are facing problems
half of the worlds human population. This causes especially increasing in population and high demand for
serious population pressure, and for reducing the residential area (Win, B., & Choa, V., 2004). As
pressure of land scarcity, cities along the coastal land are mentioned by Ramly in 2008, due to land limitation and
now paying their attention to land reclamation. the population increased continuously, most of the
Reclamation of new land from the sea has always played developing countries such as Indonesia, Singapore,
an important role in Southeast Asia, the same goes to the China, Japan, Hong Kong, Bahrain and Malaysia have
Sabah state-government of Malaysia. Interland adopted coastal reclamation. It is vital especially in
Properties Sdn. Bhd., the local developer in Sabah is increasing our land supply and helps in providing a new
appointed by the Sabah state-government to construct a land to fulfill the demand for human interest. Throughout
cruise terminal at the seaside area nearby Kota Kinabalu the new land reclamation, there are actually several of
City Mosque located at Likas Bay as shown in Figure 1. geotechnical problems that prevail in the creation and
In order to reclaim a new land, a borrow pit is subsequent development of the reclaimed land. Hence,
necessary to be further identified to obtain the the solution and handling of these problems require
backfilling materials such as coarse-grained soil, fine-
1
BK15110049, vuizen414@hotmail.com, HK01 Civil Engineering Program, UNIVERSITI MALAYSIA SABAH

1
engineers using critical geotechnical design parameters weighed and the values are tabulated. The weight of soil
that are assessed through soil investigation (Cao 1997, retained plus sieve minus the original weight of sieve
Cao et al. 2001a, Chang et al. 2001a). will give the mass of soils retained on each specific layer
This paper mainly describes the soil investigations of sieves. All the required values are recorded and
including the soil laboratory tests carried out for both tabulated in a table for calculating the percentage finer
Soil A and Soil B taken from Salut and Gayang area on each sieves. The graph of cumulative percentage of
respectively. Throughout the soil investigations, the soil finer versus sieve size is then plotted onto a semi-
parameters are assessed from different test such as the logarithmic graph paper to get a better understanding
particle size sieve analysis, standard Proctor compaction about the profile of soil sample. Data such as D 10, D30,
test, Atterberg limits tests which are fall cone test for and D60 can be obtained by reading the sieve size at the
obtaining soil liquid limit and also hand-rolling test for corresponding cumulative percentage finer of 10%, 30%
the soil plastic limit, specific gravity test and also pH and 60% respectively from the graph. These data are
test. then used to determine the grading of soil whether it is
At the end of this study, the most suitable borrow pit well graded or poorly graded by calculating the
will be chosen in which the soil must fulfill the coefficient of uniformity, Cu and coefficient of
requirements such as pH value of 4.0 8.5, maximum curvature, Cc. Cu is the ratio of D 60 to D10 while Cc is the
dry density larger than 1250 kg/m3 and optimum water ratio of D30 to the power of two divided by the product of
content of 4 - 15% for the construction of cruise D6o and D10.
terminal. Standard Proctor compaction test is conducted to
obtained the relationship between the maximum dry
density and optimum water content of the soil. For this
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY test, soil sample will be compacted in a mould at
different water contents and the bulk densities were
In this soil investigation, two soil samples weighing determined. Knowing the bulk density and the water
about 10 kg are collected from two different locations content, the dry density can be determined at their
that are Salut (Referred as Soil A) and Gayang (Referred respective water content.
as Soil B) in which both locations are within 30 km from For compaction test, 2500 grams of the soil sample
the proposed cruise terminal. Both the undisturbed soil that passes through 20 mm are collected and used. A
samples are collected from the site which is at least 1 clean empty compaction mold with its base is weighed.
kilometer away from residential area to avoid The sieved 2500 gram of soil is then placed on a metal
environmental issues such as pollution or contamination tray. 150 ml of water is poured onto the soil sample and
of soil due to mankind activities. The soil samples are mixed evenly by hand. After that, the soil sample is
then kept in their natural condition, maintaining their distributed into three parts. The first portion of the soil is
moisture content and profile. added into the compaction mold which is mounted to its
Before carry on the particle size sieve analysis, both base and is collared using a shovel. A blow-hammer is
Soil A and Soil B are crushed using rubber hammer to then used to apply 27 blows to the first layer evenly all
break the lumped partition of soil but not the soil around the sample, then, the second layer is added and
particles. Then, 3000 grams of each soil are weighed repeated with 27 blows. The final layer is added up to
using electronic balance for sieve analysis. The sieve the mouth of the added mold and again, 27 blows are
sizes used are 4.75 mm, 2.00 mm, 0.600 mm, 0.425 mm, being applied. After that, the added mold is removed and
0.300 mm, 0.212 mm, 0.150 mm and 0.075 mm. Each of the extra soil is scrapped to make its surface horizontal
the cleaned sieves and pan are weighed separately and to the mouth level. Then, the mold along with the
values are tabulated. The sieves are then carefully compacted soil is weighed and recorded.
stacked together, with a sieve of larger opening sizes Next, the mold together with the compacted soil
placed above the one having smaller opening sizes. The inside is then inverted to test the failure, means that to
pan is placed at the bottom of the sieve stacks to collect determine whether the compacted soil will fall or not. If
portion of soil passing the 0.075 mm sieve. After the compacted soil does not fall, it means that the soil is
stacking the sieve, the whole compartment of the stacked still not failing. Take small portion of the soil for
sieves along with the lid and pan are carried and located determining the moisture content. Then, the soil from the
on top of a sieve shaker. Then, 3000 grams of Soil A is mold is removed and mixed with the remaining soil
poured on top of the sieves stack and left to be rotated sample. The procedures above are repeated until the soil
and vibrated for 10 15 minutes. After finish sieved, fails. The process of compaction was then repeated by
each sieves and pan together with the retained soil are adding 150 ml of water in each trial until the density of

2
the compacted soils start to drop. The experiment is Specific gravity of the soil sample is determined by
stopped when there are at least two values of the water using a pycnometer. Specific gravity is the ratio of the
content where the density of the compacted soils starts mass of unit volume of soil to the mass of the same
decreasing and the data collected are used to plot the volume of gas-free distilled water at a stated
graph of dry density versus water content. From the temperature. The standard test for specific gravity of soil
graph, the maximum dry density and the optimum water solids by water pycnometer is ASTM D854. The mass of
content can be determined. the empty clean and dry pycnometer, WP was weighed
For conducting the fall cone test, the weight of the and recorded. Then, about 50g of a dry soil sample was
container must be first obtained and recorded. Both soil placed in the pycnometer and the mass of the
samples A and B that pass through the sieve size of pycnometer containing the dry soil, WPS was weighed
425m are collected. For each soil samples, a small and recorded. Distilled water was added to fill about half
amount of water is added and mixed until it becomes to three-fourth of the pycnometer and soaked the sample
semi-rigid. Then the soil sample is filled up to the same for at least 10 minutes. Then, partial vacuum is applied
level as the mouth of the metal container. The sample is to the contents for at least 10 minutes to remove
then penetrated by the fall cone apparatus and the entrapped air. Distilled water is then filled to the water
reading shown on the gauge is then tabulated. The mark and weighed as WB. The pycnometer was emptied
sample is allowed for penetration for a few times at and cleaned. Then, the pycnometer was filled with
different location and the average value is taken to distilled water completely up to the mark. The exterior
ensure its accuracy and consistency. A small portion surface of the pycnometer was cleaned with dry cloth
(sub-sample) from this soil sample is collected into a and the mass of the pycnometer with water only, WA was
small labeled tin and then weighed. The remaining of weighed and recorded. The specific gravity test was
soil sample inside the container is returned back to its carried out twice to get the average reading for both the
original mixture and a little amount of water is added to two soil samples A and B. The specific gravity, GS of the
the mixture again. The steps above are repeated until the soil can be calculated using the formula of Gs = (WPS
cone penetrates at its maximum depth. All the sub- WP) / [(WPS WP) + (WA WB)].
samples are then placed into an oven at temperature of To determine pH value of soil, pH meter is used.
105-115 oC for 24 hours to oven-dry. After 24 hours, the Only fine-grained soil is used for testing. It is important
sub-samples are removed from the oven and weighed to carry out pH test because the acidity and alkalinity of
again. The weight of tin plus wet soil minus the weight the soil may cause chemical reactions that affect the
of tin plus dry soil will give the weight of water. Graph construction of the cruise terminal. First, 30 g of each of
of depth of penetration versus water content is then the two soil samples and 30 g of distilled water is
plotted on a linear graph paper. The liquid limit can be weighed and added into a beaker, then stirred until it
obtained by taking the moisture content of sample becomes soil slurry. The soil samples and water are
equivalent to the 20 mm penetration via scaling off on stirred once for every 15 minutes for duration of at least
the linear graph paper (Prakash, K. & Sridharn, A, 2006). 1 hour. The temperature of the soil samples is recorded
For testing plastic limit of soil, hand rolling test is for every 15 minutes. When the temperature of the soil
used. The soil sample is added with suitable amount of samples stabilized, pH meter electrode was inserted into
water until the soil reaches its consistency where it can the samples to determine the pH value of each soil
be rolled without sticking to the hands. Then, the evenly samples.
mixed soil sample is then divided into six portions. Each
portion is rolled using hand on a glass surface until it
becomes the thread-like shape and reaches diameter of RESULT AND DISCUSSION
roughly 3 mm. If it is still not crumble, this process is
repeated again until the thread-like soil starts to crumble. From the sieve analysis, the percentage of finer of
The portions of the crumbled parts are then gathered and soil on each sieve was tabulated in Table 1 for both the
placed into a moisture can, then covered by a lid. The locations.
wet soil sample which is at least 6 grams of crumbled
part is weighed individually for each portion before Table 1 Percentage finer of soil on each sieve for both
oven-dried for at least 16 hours. The moisture content is soil sample A and B
then calculated for each trial that is for each of the six
divided portion. The average moisture content indicates Sieve Size Finer
the plastic limit of the soil (NYSDOT, 2007). (mm) Percentage (%)
Soil A Soil B

3
4.750 89.97 98.96 (mm)
2.000 70.87 92.54 Water
31.58 34.47 37.88 45.96 47.31 52.04
0.600 15.92 73.22 content
0.425 11.84 68.01
0.300 8.26 68.01
0.212 5.48 51.43
0.150 5.35 51.26
0.075 1 26.16

From Figure 2, data such as D10, D30, and D60 can be


obtained. The coefficient of uniformity, Cu and
coefficient of curvature, Cc are then determined and
recorded in Table 2.
Figure 3 Graph of depth of cone penetration versus water
Table 2 Grading Analysis content for both Soil A and Soil B.

Soil Sample Cu Cc Grade The liquid limit is obtained by taking the moisture
content of each of the soil sample equivalent to the 20
A 4.211 1.322 Well
mm depth of penetration via scaling off on the linear
B 9.333 0.8601 Poor
graph shown on Figure 3. The liquid limits obtained
were tabulated in Table 5.

Table 5 Liquid Limit for both Soil A and Soil B

Soil Sample Liquid Limit


A 41
B 39.5

For the hand-rolling test, the average moisture content


for each soil sub-sample represents the plastic limit and
the data was tabulated in Table 6.

Figure 2 Graph of percentage finer of soils against sieve Table 6 Plastic Limit for both Soil A and Soil B
opening size for both Soil A and Soil B
Soil Sample Plastic Limit
For fall cone test, the data is tabulated as shown in A 31.13
Table 3 and Table 4 and a graph of depth of penetration B 22.75
versus water content is plotted as Figure 3.
After getting all the required data, both Soil A and
Table 3 Depth of cone penetration for Soil A at different Soil B are classified using five types of soil classification
water content systems which are AASHTO, USCS, ASTM and BS.
The results of the soil classification are shown in Table
Trial 1 2 3 4 5 7.
Depth 17.8 19.4 22.4 32.5 35.9
(mm) Table 7 Soil classification for both Soil A and Soil B
Water 36.16 43.10 48.21 52.56 58.73
content Soil
Soil A Soil B
Classification System
Table 4 Depth of cone penetration for Soil B at different AASHTO A-2-5 A-2-6
water content USCS SP SC
ASTM SP SC
Trial 1 2 3 4 5 6 BS SPu SCI
Depth 13.2 14.3 18.0 24.7 28.0 36.0

4
From the specific gravity test, the specific gravity, Gs Based on Figure 4, the maximum dry density and
for each soil samples were obtained. The specific gravity optimum water content of Soil A are approximately 1630
of Soil B is higher than Soil A. The specific gravity kg/m3 and 19% respectively. The maximum dry density
obtained was tabulated in the Table 8. and optimum water content of the Soil B are 1760 kg/m3
and 17% respectively.
Table 8 Specific gravity for both Soil A and Soil B

Soil Trial Average


Specimen 1 2 Specific Gravity, Gs
A 2.41 2.23 2.32
B 2.42 2.54 2.48

From the pH test, the pH value of both Soil A and


Soil B taken from Salut area and Gayang area
respectively were found to be 4.86 and 4.95 respectively Figure 4 Graph of dry density against water content
at the temperature of approximately 25.5 oC. The pH
values that lower than 7.00 is said to be acidic. The pH
value was tabulated in the Table 9. Both the soil samples CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
A and B are suitable because they lie within the pH value
of 4.0 8.5. In summary, both soil are in fact passes the stated
requirements except the optimum water content.
Table 9 pH value for both Soil A and Soil B. However, Soil B from Gayang is more suitable as the
borrow pit to obtain the backfilling materials for the land
Soil Sample pH Value reclamation. This is because Soil B has higher maximum
A 4.86 dry density which is 1760 kg/m3 compared to Soil A
B 4.95 which is only 1630 kg/m3. However, its optimum water
content exceeded the requirement, but still under
From the standard proctor compaction test, the result acceptable range. This indicates that Soil B has higher
such as bulk density, dry density and water content were quality which is more compact compared to Soil A, so
tabulated in Table 10. the total volume of soil needed is greatly reduced.
Therefore, the cost for transportation can be reduced as
Table 10 Standard Proctor compaction test results well. Based on the pH value of the soils, both the soil
samples are acidic and lies within the range of pH value
Trial Water Content Bulk Density Dry Density 4.0 8.5. In a nutshell, Soil B is more suitable as the
(%) (kg/m3) (kg/m3) borrow pit for the construction of the proposed cruise
terminal.
A1 12.36 1638.49 1458.25
A2 16.50 1887.39 1620.08
A3 24.48 1983.93 1593.77
REFERENCES
A4 36.77 1926.01 1408.21
A5 40.96 1931.23 1370.06
Ramli, S. (2008). Impact on the coastal areas of the
A6 56.25 1967.75 1259.36
Tanjung Tokong Land Reclamation Project, Penang,
A7 72.33 1988.62 1153.96
Malaysia, Effects on wave transformation, sediment
B1 11.76 1747.03 1563.20
transport, and coastal evolution.
B2 14.75 1974.54 1720.73
NYSDOT. (2007). Geotechnical Test Method: Test
B3 18.18 2066.37 1748.49 Method for Liquid Limit, Plastic Limit and Plastic
B4 27.59 1928.09 1511.16 Index. Geotechnical Engineering Bureau.
B5 36.00 1842.52 1354.79 Prakash, K. & Sridharn, A. (2006). Critical Appraisal of
B6 45.45 1803.90 1240.22 the Cone Penetration Method of Determining Soil
B7 52.63 1789.29 1172.31 Plasticity. Canadian Geotechnical Journal 43, 884
B8 60.87 1684.93 1047.39 Nadzir,N.M.,Ibrahim,M.,&Mansor,M.(2014).
B9 80.00 1645.27 914.04 Impactsofcoastalreclamationtothequalityoflife:
TanjungTokongcommunity,Penang,Vol.153,159
168

5
Yusup, M., Arshad, A., Ayu Abdullah, Y., & Ishak, N.
(2017). Coastal Land Reclamation: Implication
towards development control system in West
Malaysia. [Retrieved 12 April 2017, from
http://ebpj.eiph.co.uk/index.php/EBProceedings/artic
le/view/232]

You might also like